GROUND & POUND
did receive a transmission upgrade in the form of a Revmax 550 gearbox with billet torque converter and input shaft. Comensky relates that all of this is to keep it as reliable as possible for long trips and to let the truck cope with the inevitable off-road abuse and 37-inch tires. After all, it is not advisable to become stranded in the climates and terrain in which this truck was shaken down.
The engine programming has been tapped by an H&S Mini Maxx tuner with Altered Diesel Works custom data—also to enhance running reliability. “Our goals with the engine’s custom tuning were to keep temperatures as low as possible and to minimize potential issues,” Comensky explains. He reports little smoke and cool EGTS despite the Ram’s obvious improved terrain negotiation, which enables drivers to push the chassis and the 6.7L to the absolute edge.
Aesthetically speaking, there is a lot of understatement to this build. The factory bumpers were replaced with Mercenary Offroad units front and rear (also prototypes, incidentally). The grille was updated to a 2013+ unit, and the head- and taillamp clusters were brought in from the same era. Forward lighting is augmented with a six-lamp Baja Designs XL80 array; the rear features S2 dust/reverse lamps from the same company. Amp Research Powersteps were added at the rocker panels to assist entry and exit and then to GTFO of the way when not in use. A Warn M12000 winch and Factor 55 Flatlink shackle mount reside up front (for emergency use only, of course). Exterior paintwork on the body updates is credited to Tony Ananyan at Autobahn Collision Center in Torrance, Calif.
The truck debuted at the Off Road Expo in Pomona, Calif., in 2015—imagine a SEMA for those who prefer to do their business in the dirt. Cole Comensky is quite thrilled with the way it turned out. “I’d say that we were successful in pushing the limits of what a ¾-ton diesel truck can do off-road,” he says. “The fact that this truck could handle 70 mph through large whoops and stay composed was pretty impressive in my opinion. The truck’s suspension is capable of doing more off-road than what I’d say is safe without a roll cage.”